A strong academic record can open doors for you down the road. More importantly, through the process of becoming a straight-A student, you’ll learn values like hard work, discipline, and determination.

Rule #1: Always have a plan.

If you choose to use a physical calendar, I recommend that you get a management diary. This will allow you to see the week’s events at a glance. The inside of the diary should look like this:

If you choose to use a digital calendar, I recommend Google Calendar.

(b) Schedule a fixed time every week where you review your upcoming events over the next two months. Mark down when you’ll start preparing for that Math exam, working on that History project, or writing that English paper.

(d) Next, note your commitments for the coming week, e.g. extracurricular activities, family gatherings, extra classes. On your calendar, highlight the blocks of time you’ll have for schoolwork.

This planning process might sound time-consuming, but it’ll typically take just 15 minutes every week. This is a wise investment of time, because the rest of your week will become far more productive.

Rule #2: Be organized.

Ever had trouble finding your notes or assignments when you needed them? You probably ended up wasting precious time looking for them, before you finally asked to borrow them from your friend.

Many students tell me that they keep all their notes and assignments in one big pile, and only sort it out before their exams!

1. Filing

(a) Get an accordion folder that looks like this:

Bring this folder to school every day.

(b) Assign one section in the folder to each of your subjects. In addition, reserve the section at the front of the folder for your incomplete homework across all subjects. Label each section, e.g. Math, Physics, English, Incomplete Homework (All Subjects).

(c) Every day, place your “incoming” notes and assignments in the correct section, as you receive them. There’s no need to create sub-categories for each subject.

(d) Keep one large binder for each subject. The binder would look something like this:

Leave these binders at home.

This is a simple system that takes 15 minutes a week to implement, but it’ll save you many hours in the long run.

2. Homework

(Thanks to Cal Newport for this one. I started using the system described below years ago; it’s roughly based on his system.)

(a) Keep a homework list. Whenever your teacher assigns a new homework set, add it to your list. You can use a notebook for this purpose, or you can use an app on your phone. (I recommend the Google Keep app, but any note-taking app will do.)

Next to each item on your homework list, write the due date in parentheses.

(b) Every day when you get home from school, refer to your homework list. At the same time, open your calendar. Look for blocks of time in your calendar where you’ll be able to complete each item on your homework list. Prioritize the items that have the most urgent deadline.

(c) At the end of each day, look at your calendar to see if there are any assignments (which have already been converted into appointments) that you’d planned to finish, but weren’t able to. Add those appointments to another day that’s well before the due date.

And that’s how the system works. I know it seems complicated, but it really isn’t. Try it out for a couple of weeks and you’ll get the hang of it.

Rule #3: Take care of your physical health.

Most of the students I work with complain that they’re constantly tired and sleep deprived.

They can’t focus in class. They daydream. They lack energy and enthusiasm. They frequently fall sick.

Is it possible to be a straight-A student when you’re in this kind of physical state?

Yes… but it’s unlikely.

Physical health is the foundation of academic excellence. To be a straight-A student, you don’t need to have the physique of an Olympic-level athlete. But you do need to take excellent care of your body.

Work on these three areas, and you’ll become a better learner:

1. Sleep

Eight hours of sleep a night is ideal; some people need nine.

If you’re sleeping four, five or six hours a night, you won’t be able to suddenly increase it to eight or more. The jump is too big, and you probably feel like you have too much to do during the day as it is.

So I recommend that you gradually bring forward your bedtime. 10 minutes earlier this week, 20 minutes earlier next week, 30 minutes earlier the week after, and so on, until you get to your target bedtime.

To remind yourself to go to bed on time, set an alarm. When the alarm goes off, start your bedtime routine.

But it’s not just about how much you sleep. How well you sleep matters too.

To improve your sleep quality, get the Twilight app for your Android phone. For your computer and jailbroken iPhone, install f.lux. (Unfortunately, if you have a non-jailbroken iPhone, there doesn’t seem to be a substitute app at the moment.) My own sleep quality has improved dramatically since I started using these two apps.

Next, make your bedroom as dark as possible at night. Put up blackout curtains, and remove all light sources.

Turn off all electronic devices in your bedroom before you go to sleep. If, for whatever reason, you need to leave your phone on, turn it to airplane mode. This way, you’ll minimize the cell phone radiation you’re exposed to, and you’ll sleep better.

2. Food

It’s the usual advice:

Eat regular meals.

Drink 8 to 10 glasses of water a day.

Don’t overeat more than once a week.

Restrict your intake of processed foods.

Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables.

Don’t drink sugary drinks.

Do these things and you’ll feel more alert throughout the day. It’s hard to become a straight-A student if you’re always feeling lethargic!

3. Exercise

You’ve heard it before: Exercise at least three times a week, for at least 30 to 45 minutes each time.

Exercise enhances your memory and thinking skills, as proven by research. So make exercise a priority, and you’ll get better grades.

Rule #4: Don’t cram. Instead, use a periodic review system.

People are usually surprised to hear that I’ve never pulled an all-nighter before. As the research shows, cramming is a bad idea.

The more effective approach?

Periodic review.

If you periodically review the new information you learn, you’ll move that information from your short-term to your long-term memory. This way, you won’t forget important facts or equations come exam time.

The end result: Less stress and anxiety, and more A’s.

After much experimentation, I’ve found that the optimal review intervals for most students are as follows:

1 day after learning the new information

3 days after the first review

7 days after the second review

21 days after the third review

30 days after the fourth review

45 days after the fifth review

60 days after the sixth review

By the end of this cycle, the information is almost permanently stored in your long-term memory.

Note that each review is just a review of the key facts and equations, not a full review of the topic. As such, each review only takes 10 to 15 minutes to complete.

Rule #5: Form a homework group.

Here’s why I recommend this.

You’ll run into difficulties while doing your homework, so it’s good to have friends around whom you can turn to for help. Even if they can’t solve the problem, you can bounce ideas off them. This process can be motivating and fun.

But if you do your homework alone, you’ll become discouraged more easily when you can’t solve a problem.

Your homework group should consist of three to four people, including you. More people than that and it’ll be distracting.

When it comes to studying, however, you may or may not be better off doing it in a group. Some students enjoy studying with friends, because there’s a healthy pressure to stay focused. But other students concentrate better when they study alone.

So run your own experiment and decide what works best for you.

Rule #6: Set up a distraction-free study area.

Here are some practical things you can do to make your study session as fruitful as possible:

But nonetheless, they’ll highlight the important areas to focus on, which will save you time and effort down the line. Furthermore, you’ll probably find it easier to make sense of your teachers’ explanation, than to figure things out on your own.

I’m proud to say that throughout my 17 years of formal education, I only ever skipped one class. 🙂 (That class was a review session on a topic that I’d already studied several times.)

The bottom line

Right now, you might be feeling overwhelmed. I can almost read your mind:

“These rules all sound good, Daniel. But there are just so many habits I need to change. I don’t think I can do it.”

Rest assured that I’m not asking you to put everything into practice all at once. That would be impossible.

I’m asking you to start with just one tiny change.

If you want to start exercising regularly, don’t set some huge, ambitious goal. Instead, start with a 10-minute walk, once a week. After a month, increase it to 15 minutes. The following month, increase it to 20 minutes, and so on. Eventually, you’ll be exercising three times a week, for 30 minutes each time.

The same principle applies to all seven rules. Focus on one rule at a time, and stick with it until it becomes a habit.

It took me more than 10 years to learn the rules, so don’t rush the process.

One other thing…

I mentioned it earlier, but I think it’s worth repeating: Straight A’s on their own don’t mean much. The process of becoming a straight-A student is what counts.

As you implement the seven rules, you’ll become more disciplined, organized, responsible, and self-motivated. These traits are vital for long-term success.

So start building the foundations of success, one day at a time, one habit at a time, and one rule at a time.

Please “like” and share this article with your friends.

BONUS: Don’t forget to download your free weekly schedule template, which will show you exactly how to use the 7 rules in your daily schedule.

I just want to say thank you!
This lifted me quite a bit from my exams I did quite badly (PSLE) I got 244, parents expected 250-260 but stress got to me.
Thanks for introducing some good habits to me, but stress still gets to me somehow but I handle it a bit better, any tips?

You’re welcome. Stress management is a huge topic on its own, so I apologize that it’s hard for me to give you advice in just a few sentences — I’m planning to write an article on this in the future though!

Your points are very useful! Buy how do we make time if we had alot of time in extra lessons and will be coming home late especially when you leave very far from school. I always had to jiggle time as i had to travel back and fro from school. Also, i had cca’s going on and i will be coming home later. Not only that, i had even plans sometimes durimg the weekend so weelends will definitely come in my way for atudying. So how would i make time to study?

Thank you so much Daniel! This is a really comprehensive blog post. Better phrased than the many study skills books I’ve read! Will be implementing them in my study regime as I prepare for my J1 promos and so on! I really loved your “The Happy Student” book too, that I have both the first and second edition copies! Hope you will write more books pertaining to academic excellence as I am looking forward to savour them =) God Bless!

I don’t think it’s ever too late, Catherine. The goal of education is to prepare students for long-term success, so I’m always happy to help students no matter what stage they’re in. Please feel free to send me an email if you’re interested in having me work with your son?

Hello again. Wanted to clarify some things. Regarding the periodic review system you had recommended, how I should I apply it for my arts based subjects like history and literature since no formulas are involved? Can you please enlighten me on good note-taking habits as well? I am not sure if mind maps are really that suitable for me as I take far too long to do my notes (~3hrs per topic per subject ><) that I lack time for practice and revision.

I find your article delightful, easy to comprehend and highly useful. Kudos to you for sharing!! I’ll be sharing your post with my students to help them prepare better for their major exams. Please do share more

Thanks for al these tips! Even though I think it will take some time to implement! Heading to JC this year! Anyway, do you have tips to improve language based subjects such as Chinese ? I’m very bad at it 🙁

You’re welcome. For languages, you can still apply the techniques I mentioned for learning vocabulary. But to improve in the other areas, you’ll still need to do plenty of reading and writing, unfortunately.

Thanks for the great article Daniel, you have listed very good advice.

I believe you will agree with me that the journey of exploring and finding one’s own way to learn and perform effectively is also important. While the process of becoming a Straight-A student is what counts, the process of finding that process for oneself counts, too.

I read these rules with some worry because I think there may be students who will take these advice at face value and go away believing that it is a one-size fit all winning formula. It may work for O levels, A levels, but one day when they hit that brick wall that cannot be overcome using this strategy, they do not know how to overcome it as they have never gone through the process of figuring it out for themselves. My own younger sibling is an example of this. Self-awareness, which I think you are abundantly equipped with but probably missed out in your process of writing the rules, would more likely provide for long-term sustainable success.

In addition, I feel that such a set of rules may lead some to believe that their achievements can be solely attributed to their efforts. When these students practise this set of rules and succeed and meet someone who doesn’t, they arrive at the conclusion that it is because the latter is “not organised, has no plan, and probably doesn’t have good studying habits”. They tell themselves, “I am successful because I practise rules that lead to success, and these people fail because they don’t”. They forget that a lot of their success is due to good, for a lack of a better word, luck. Good genes that enable them to process knowledge better, being born in a stable family that enables them to focus on academic pursuits, meeting good teachers that inspired, being born at a right time in the right country – and so many more.

I think the recognition of these two points above will enable students to grow up to be more gracious, humble, creative, and more importantly, unafraid to fail.

I must confess I have never practised any of your rules – I’ve probably flouted all of them, thankfully, I believe I figured my way out fine. The truth remains that you have provided us with a handy set of advice that will benefit the lives of all who read and follow it. But I think it’s good to remind people to be the “yet” man/woman you have mentioned in your other article – That in times when they’ve followed your advice to the dot but still fall short, a small voice at the back of their head will remind them, “I just haven’t found the right way for myself, yet”.

Hello! Thanks for the tips! I’m currently doing okay in my studies. I get As for most of my subjects but I believe I still have lots of room for improvement. Truth is I’m bad at managing my time. And I’m facing O levels this year and I really want to get good grades for many reasons. I don’t really have the time to sleep as I have tuition till 9pm on most days. Can you suggest a few tips for me? Thank you for sharing your tips! Your kindness is very much appreciated!

Glad you found the tips helpful! I’d say that you don’t have the time NOT to sleep. If you’re not sleeping enough, then your studying and learning will be less efficient, so it’s counter-productive. It’s tough for me to give you suggestions without knowing your actual schedule, so if you’d like more in-depth help, feel free to send me an email?

Having read through your advice, allow me to provide a validation, an observation, and some advice for those that also read it. From a validation standpoint, I easily translated your comments into good management practices for success in the workplace and career advancement. Only changes in terminology were required to alter the perspective. Your concepts work. At 70, I am long past the job entry stage, but I have a unique stage from which to comment. Through increasingly responsible management positions, career advancement with accompanying increases in income, retiring as head of human resources for a significant company, I used your techniques for my own success. I hired many, many people, always looking for such an organized thought process

Hi,
More useful tips.My son who takes PSLE hopes to follow your tips.He does well in the class test and when it comes to final exams,he is not doing well.When asked,he mentioned anxiety and hurry to finish his work.How to tackle this.Pls suggest

Hi Ryan, there are probably a number of issues at the root of that. It would help to focus on the process instead of performance, and even to take his mind off the result completely (if possible). I do work with students 1-to-1 on this, so please send me an email if you’re interested in more help?

Hello! Your tips were extremely useful and I’m wondering if you can send me a blank soft copy of the template at jessicaliew312@gmail.com? I think it would help me plan my time better according to my needs. Thank you!

Hi Cynthia, I would encourage you to keep using the tips. It took me more than 10 years to start using all of the rules, and it will probably take you 6 months to a year of using the rules every day to see a total transformation. I’m sorry that it’s not possible for the changes to take place overnight.

Hello Audrey, those are great questions 🙂 Like I mentioned in the post, I don’t think that getting straight A’s is all that important. With or without straight A’s, the thing that I believe we should all be doing is loving, serving and adding value to others.

Hi Daniel, Thanks for your helpful tips. Just wanted to clarify, regarding the periodic review system, its 3 days/7days/12days ..etc AFTER the first encounter with the information or after the previous review?
Thanks in advance!

I am in my second semester of junior year. I currently have a 4.0 and I’m reading for more study tips. Even though I already have all A’s, I found some interesting organization strategy that I can use to improve. I’m interested in more study techniques because one can always do better! I’m impressed that your exam scores are so high. I’ve gotten low B’s on exams but still managed an A for the course. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you for writing this. I mean I’m just in 8th grade but this really helps. All of my classes are high school courses, and I’m really stressed out I’ve pulled several all nighters this year, but now I know that i need to manage my time better. So thanks again!

Thanks Daniel it is very helpfull as I am worried about my two kid’s study habits i think they are less concerned. They work hard every time but when i get the result it is not up to the mark, what i caught they are unable to understand the questions properly. Could you help me regarding this problem???